Road to the Democratic National Convention

COLUMBIA — With the Democratic presidential primary historically close, the hottest ticket this year could be one to the party's national convention, and on Saturday regular voters were given a road map on how to get there.

Jason Mikell decided to make the drive from Charleston to the state party headquarters in Columbia to find out how to land one of the 54 coveted delegates' spots for the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver.

If Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois continue to split the popular vote in the remaining primaries, delegates could play a deciding role in the nomination, or at least be part of history.

"I'll give it a shot," said Mikell, 29, a local public defender. "I don't have anything to lose, so we'll see. I don't see why I don't have just as good a chance as anyone else."

Carol Fowler, the state party chairwoman, gave her first two hour-long crash course on how to become a delegate. About 40 people attended. The next workshop is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Twenty-nine slots are available to the public through Congressional Districts and 10 more are open in at-large positions. The remaining slots go to the state's elected officials and members of the Democratic National Committee, including the unpledged super delegates.

Eight at-large alternates also will be selected, as will an "add on" position, which will likely go to a statewide elected official such as Superintendent of Education Jim Rex.

The delegate selection is compounded by the requirement that half of all South Carolina delegates are women. The state party also has a goal that half are black voters and at least five are under 30 and three are gay or lesbian. The point is for the delegates to look like the state's electorate.

The odds of snagging one of the few open spots seems dubious but, Fowler said, for those who really want to try, it is within reach.

"Somebody is going to be elected," she said. "Every convention we have elected delegates who have never participated in the process before.

"They work very hard to be elected to those delegates' spots, particularly young people who get into it and work hard, their first try at politics."

The first step in the process is to attend a precinct meeting later this month, where delegates and alternates are elected to the county Democratic conventions.

Few people typically attend precinct meetings so it's easy to be elected, which will carry weight at the county conventions, Fowler said.

Voters must be elected in their precinct and then their county to run at the state convention in May, where South Carolina's national delegates are selected.

Delegate candidate commitments are not taken into account until the state convention. Twenty-five will go to Obama, 12 to Clinton and eight to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, not including the unpledged delegates and the "add-on" spot.

Edwards, who suspended his campaign in late January, is entitled to the state delegates he won, but will no longer be considered for the nomination.

Fowler said Edwards will likely encourage his delegates to support either Clinton or Obama, which he can use as a strategic advantage to help further his agenda.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at ywenger@postandcourier.com or 803-799-9051.